Auditor General blasts 'liberal' toll-free turnpike travel

Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner has recommended the indebted Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission stop granting employees personal toll-free travel and take other related action, according to a news release.

A “liberal and inadequate” policy resulted in 7,000 commission employees and vendors getting free rides on the turnpike between January 2007 and August 2011, the release stated.

It resulted in at least $7.7 million in lost toll revenue, according to the release.

It comes as the commission is “in danger of collapsing” under debt, which has risen about 200 percent to about $7.8 billion amid increased borrowing due to Act 44 of 2007.